Delaware Political Weekly: June 7-13, 2014

Delaware Political Weekly: June 7-13, 2014

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2. Chip Flowers Creates Yet Another Issue For Himself So, let’s see if I’ve got this straight. In order to ‘save the state money’, Delaware’s Most Ethical State Employee has cut deals with seven banks, all of whom manage state $$’s, to pay for his travel expenses and those of his staff. $5K per bank, times 7. $35,000 in travel expenses. Which is a lot of travel expenses. I would call this extortion were Flowers not so ethical. He, of course, is once again changing the subject. This issue isn’t/wasn’t that he traveled, it is/was that he was unable to account for how much he spent and who paid for it. If a treasurer can’t account for his own expenses, how can he account for the state’s finances? 3. I’m Not Loving Sean Barney’s Campaign I got an e-blast from him yesterday. He’s been endorsed by a buncha lawyers. I like some of those lawyers. I don’t give two bleeps that they’ve endorsed him. He used some of the same boilerplate that I can’t stand when it comes to our Corporate Bar: Our legal community in Delaware inspires trust and confidence the world over because of its reputation for upholding the highest standards of professional responsibility. Moreover, Delaware’s bar is exceptional in the manner in which it pairs the highest expectations of competence with the highest expectations of collegiality. Computer-generated boilerplate. I have people telling me on the QT that Sean Barney is really one of us. As in progressive. But he is running a risk-averse campaign where all we learn about him is about his military service, his high school schools initiative, and the fact that he’s been endorsed by a lot of the usual suspects. Haven’t even heard a dog-whistle from him to create any enthusiasm.
Iraq Is Burning

Iraq Is Burning

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Again. Or, really, it never stopped burning and now there is gas on the fire. You already know that Iraq is under siege, this time by a group called ISIS, which seems to be a coalition of Sunni forces, Baathists, remnants of Al Queda in Iraq, Syrian and other foreign fighters. ISIS has been capturing territory with some ease, and the Kurds are using the chaos to grab back some land they've been claiming. Back home, this has been one more occasion for the GOP to rattle their sabers -- calling for action in a country who has had plenty of US action. President Obama has said the usual "all options are on the table" except right now it doesn't look like boots on the ground is an option.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., June 12, 2014

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., June 12, 2014

7 Comments
So, the I-495 bridge repair is gonna cost $20 million or so. About 60,000 vehicles, a lot of them trucks, are now grinding other Delaware roads, further degrading those road surfaces. Not so much as a peep out of the General Assembly as to how they’re gonna fund the $70 mill hole in the road/infrastructure funding. Which may now be $90 mill. Rethug signs still litter New Castle County, proclaiming ‘No New Gas Taxes’. Is anybody gonna do anything?

Thursday Open Thread [6.12.14]

11 Comments
A tea party House candidate in Oklahoma has endorsed stoning gays to death. Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) compared homosexuality to alcoholism during a visit to California.
The Texas Republican Party this month adopted a platform supporting access to 'reparative therapy' for gays and lesbians, a widely discredited process intended to change sexual orientation. In response to an audience question about it Wednesday night, Perry said he did not know whether the therapy worked. Said Perry: "Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the ability to decide not to do that. I may have the genetic coding that I'm inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way."
That rebranding continues apace.
John Carney Primary Challenge Imminent ?

John Carney Primary Challenge Imminent ?

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So I guess this is happening now. If I get some pledges, and Mrs. (not as) Liberal (as me), doesn't kill me - I guess I'll have some news to announce. For the record - if John Carney paid a crumb's worth of attention to the Democratic base, this wouldn't be necessary. I actually had high hopes for Carney, but there is no more room left for hoping for the best. He is a complete and total sell out. His constant overtures to the obstructionist Republicans are hard to swallow, but you can chalk that up to a warm and open personality. Doing the Koch Brother's bidding is the last straw, however. It isn't an issue of style. Now he is openly working against the interests of middle class Delawareans. This country has moved to the right over the past 20 years because the GOP has primaries which force the party to pay attention to the base. The Democrats don;t have primaries, so Democrats like John Carney are free to utterly ignore the legitimate concerns of the Democratic base.
I think I have to primary John Carney. Not because I want to be in Congress, or be a O’Donell type spoiler and risk throwing the seat to the Republicans. John Carney will easily beat me in the primary. But I want to do it to just have a chance to tell him to his face that he is wrong to take $300k from the financial services industry. That he is wrong to enable the Tea Party like he does by giving “bipartisan” gloss to all the bullshit they are pulling. That he is wrong to use his seat to benefit billionaires like Pete Peterson at the expense of Delawareans he is supposed to be representing. What’s the filling fee? I would surely lose – but if I could just tell him to be a Democrat to his face it might shame him into thinking twice about being the Republican's boy on the other side of the isle. Even if is didn’t, it would make me feel better.
Wednesday Open Thread [6.11.14]

Wednesday Open Thread [6.11.14]

22 Comments
Well, it's reaction day. Cantor Day. Brat Upsets Cantor. Sounds like a headline out of a failed Bar Mitzvah. Anywho, our dear friend Unstable Isotope asked last night on Twitter if the Cantor defeat was bigger than the Castle defeat. I answered Cantor is bigger because we all saw Christine O'Donnell coming, Palin endorsed her, the Tea Party Express got involved in the campaign, Castle got very nervous and went negative, and a poll from PPP five days before the election showed Christine in the lead. You can't say that about this Brat guy. Here is some reaction from the punditry....
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 11, 2014

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 11, 2014

14 Comments
OK, let's talk about Delaware's position as the nation's corporate leader.  Our lofty perch is not based on having 'better' lawyers, 'better' judges, or having the abiding respect of the corporate community. We're in this position because we've passed laws that enable corporations  to engage in unsavory practices that otherwise would be considered criminal activity. We make it impossible for people to know who are behind straw corporations, or why these shells exist in the first place. We enable the worst kinds of criminal activity, including arms sales, drug-running, and, yes, human trafficking, by enabling corporations to create impossible-to-follow paper trails. The entire political establishment props this up by worshipping at the feet of the Court of Chancery and by placing those who are its most effective defenders in positions of power. It's no accident that the preponderance of judgeships go to those from the corporate law community . It's no accident that people like Ed Friel and Jeff Bullock, both from Carper Cyborgenics, have served as Secretaries of State. They're all in on Delaware's dirty secret: Our vast revenues generated by Delaware's corporate hegemony are derived from Delaware's willingness, no, eagerness, to enact laws that benefit even the worst actors at the expense of, well, people. In Delaware, corporations are not merely people, they have rights superior to people.  You can put suits on these people, and they can be heralded as Delaware's best, but they are merely well-learned shills and shysters. Hey, it's no surprise that Delaware was the state to legalize usury. We were the most experienced when it came to legalizing criminal activity via corporate shell games. So it was no surprise that HB 327 and HB 328 flew through the House yesterday, it's what we do. Every year. In June. A package of bills emerges from the Corporate Section of the Delaware Bar every year. Proponents cite them as necessary to continue Delaware's pre-eminent position in corporate law. But now you know just what kind of stuff is in these bills. Thanks to the ADA, League of Women Voters, and the Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement, for shining a light on Delaware's dirty secret. Maybe, just maybe, this will start a debate that should have been taking place all along.
Welcome Home, Bowe Bergdahl

Welcome Home, Bowe Bergdahl

3 Comments
Let me be among the first admirers of Veterans For Peace(VFP) to welcome you home. As the third generation in my family to serve as an officer in the U.S. Army, I was privileged to rejuvenate the Houston Chapter and serve in its leadership for a number of years. I am certain that on your return, your comrades in arms in VFP will provide you a warm welcome and the support you'll need to re-adjust to Tea Party America.